Bread and CircusesApr 23, 2025

You know about that canary in the coal mine, right?

When a canary kept inside a cage dies, the miners need to get out immediately. They are in extreme danger.

For us, the canary is coral reefs. They are dying now, at a rate never seen in human history. We are in extreme danger.

Capitalist commerce and industry are wrecking the planet's biosphere, tampering with the food chain that keeps us and millions of other species alive.

➡️ https://apnews.com/article/coral-reef-bleaching-climate-change-fdbeddf7ae3ccc9d7cf85d1c3267e581

#Science #Environment #Climate #ClimateChange #ClimateCrisis #ClimateEmergency

84% of the world's coral reefs hit by worst bleaching event on record

Harmful bleaching of the world’s coral has now grown to include 84% of the ocean’s reefs in the most intense event of its kind in recorded history. That's according to the International Coral Reef Initiative. Warming oceans cause corals to expel the colorful algae living inside of them, putting the coral at risk of death. Healthy corals are essential for seafood production, jobs and coastline protection worldwide. Scientists say it's essential to reduce greenhouse gases that are the main driver of atmospheric warming. Last year was the warmest on record, and much of that heat is going into oceans.

AP News
Show threadBread and CircusesApr 23, 2025

The more CO₂ the ocean absorbs, the more acidic its chemistry becomes. After years of working overtime to take in some of the excess carbon we’ve pumped into the atmosphere, ocean acidification has already increased 30% compared to pre-industrial levels, and could increase an additional 120% in the decades ahead. That, in turn, could lead to severe disruptions in the worldwide food chain, followed by famine and starvation such as we’ve never seen.

I wish I was exaggerating. But I’m not. We are in grave danger.

➡️ https://www.pbs.org/newshour/science/the-ocean-helps-absorb-our-carbon-emissions-we-may-be-pushing-it-too-far

When it comes to sucking up carbon emissions, ‘the ocean has been forgiving.’ That might not last

The ocean helps relieve our atmosphere of a lot of the excess carbon dioxide we've pumped into it. Here's how its "twilight zone" makes that happen, and how the impacts of climate change make it harder for the ocean to do its job.

PBS News
Show threadWanstead Climate Action

@breadandcircuses

Possible consequences of ocean acidification (like the climate crisis, caused by fossil fuels) could be _even worse_ than famine, starvation and conflict.

It seems to be part of the 'kill switch' for previous mass extinctions, and possibly we're over half-way there already.
https://news.mit.edu/2019/carbon-threshold-mass-extinction-0708

Breaching a “carbon threshold” could lead to mass extinction

Today’s carbon dioxide emissions may trigger a reflex in the carbon cycle with devastating consequences, according to a new MIT study.

MIT News | Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Apr 23, 2025 at 12:58pmWeb